State parks texas reservations

An absolutely stunning strolling garden, Otaguro Park is a Tokyo gem almost unknown to the rest of the city. Once the home of former music critic Motoo Otaguro, the estate was given over to Suginami City after his passing in the late seventies and turned into the garden it is today. It's almost unfortunate to have separate the highlights here; there are so many of them and they all begin at the entrance gate. Walking in, the pathway from the gate is lined with a series of gingko trees whose gorgeous golden shadings in autumn really are a sight to behold. Further on, the garden opens up to feature some beautifully established and maintained traditional Japanese garden elements - viewing platforms which choice views, a pond filled with koi carp, a stone bridge, an obligatory waterfall and seasonal colours of the garden's flora. The stone paved walkway winds its way through the garden with Motoo Otaguro's home - a Western-styled architectural structure rare for its time - now a … [Read more...] about Otaguro Park

Texas A&M’s $75 million plan with Jimbo Fisher is stuck in neutral.The Aggies are 3-3 and out of the Top 25 for the first time this season after losing 47-28 at home to No. 1 Alabama. And while two of those losses have come against top-ranked teams, the Aggies appear no closer to emerging as a contender in the SEC West in Year 2 under Fisher than they were before.The schedule has been brutal and Saturday’s crowd of 106,000-plus has so far been willing to follow Fisher’s calls to “trust the process,” but they eventually will expect to win some of those games, not just put up a good fight in a loss.Life in the SEC is tough, but that’s what Texas A&M wanted when it made what former school President Bowen Loftin called the “100-year decision” to move from the Big 12. There are three teams from the state of Texas ranked in the AP Top 25 and Texas A&M isn’t one of them. To be fair, with just six seniors, the Aggies have one of … [Read more...] about At 3-3, Texas A&M and Fisher stuck in neutral

Private lake views and a show are a good enough reason to visit the Hamilton Lakes Basin. Author: Emily Pennington Publish date: Oct 8, 2019 The hike in was great—like, massive-gorges, snowcapped-peaks, knock-your-socks-off great. But it’s nothing—nothing—compared to the Hamilton Lakes basin. We crest the final set of switchbacks, and suddenly we stand before a blue jewel of a lake surrounded by thousand-foot-tall granite walls. This is Yosemite on steroids, a glacial cirque cut deep in the Great Western Divide. Each tick of the clock improves our already-awesome situation, as sunset turns the rock coral, then starlight begins to fleck the sky and, before I know it, I’ve got a front-row seat to the best dinner show in the Sierra. I don’t know how tomorrow could possibly be better, but I suspect it might be.  Turn-by-turn from the Crescent Meadow trailhead 1) Take the High Sierra Trail 10.6 miles east, threading together … [Read more...] about See a Perfect Sunset in Sequoia National Park, California

Published 12:04 pm CDT, Wednesday, October 9, 2019 WEST GLACIER, Mont. (AP) — More than 488,000 people visited Glacier National Park in Montana in September, a 12.5% increase over the same month last year. The Flathead Beacon reports that the National Park Service says so far this year 2.9 million people have come to the park, a 3.5% jump over 2018. The strong September numbers come on the heels of a busy August, when more than 771,000 people visited Glacier. Just two months ago, year-to-date visitation was down more than 3%, with 1.6 million people coming to the park between January and July. One likely reason for the spike in August and September visitation is that for the first time in three years, the park did not have a major wildfire. ___ Information from: Flathead Beacon, http://www.flatheadbeacon.com … [Read more...] about Glacier National Park sees increased September visitation

“Wow, big bullfrogs,” I thought as I heard “plop, plops” slapping the surface of the little pond.It was a perfect early fall morning for a sit-and-see adventure. There was still a chill in the shadows, but the warmth from the October sun felt good.Mornings are a busy time for birds, and I had decided to plunk down on a park bench at the edge of the little pond in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park and see what the local flocks were up to.There was a paddling of ducks drifting about, a single cormorant, a great blue heron watching from a nearby eucalyptus tree, a snowy egret and a couple of juvenile night herons pocking around at the water’s edge. A red-tailed hawk seemed to float overhead. As I sat quietly, a father and his young son came along the dirt path and again, I heard the bullfrogs plopping into the water.But they were not bullfrogs.What I had thought from a distance were muddy rocks or pieces of driftwood turned out to be turtles in varying sizes … [Read more...] about Column: Making friends at pond in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park